How to Make a Vegetable Garden

Grow some fun. Make a vegetable garden the easy way.

There are lots of ways you can create a terrific vegetable garden. It can be a few containers on the porch, or neat rows in a big patch of vegetables in the back yard. Growing a garden is a great opportunity to include your kids in a fun project. They love being involved. With a little preparation and a little planning, you can have delicious vegetables to enjoy, year after year.

Plan

Decide how big of a garden you want. If you're not sure, you can always start small. While
you think about it, plan around an area that gets at least six hours of sunlight. More would be
better.

Pick Your Plants

Now you can choose what you want to grow. Keep in mind what grows best in your area and the
space you have allocated. If you plant seeds, the packet will have clear directions. Just
remember that seeds take longer than container plants, which you can put in the ground during
the spring after the last frost.

Planting

With vegetables, timing is everything. Broccoli, carrots, lettuce, peas, and spinach like
cool weather. So you can plant them one month before the last expected frost. After the last
frost, plant your warm-weather vegetables: corn tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers.

Mulch and Prevent Weeds

Weeds compete with your vegetables. They steal nutrients, water, and sunlight, so you want
to keep them out. A two-inch layer of mulch around your plants will help discourage weeds.
Grass clippings work, too. They also provide nitrogen as they break down.

Certain activities provided via the website may be covered by U.S. Patent No. 5,930,474

The Global Professional business group and its subsidiaries of The Scotts Company LLC were purchased by ICL in February 2011.
This is the USA consumer products site for The Scotts Company LLC. For information about ICL or Scotts® Professional products, please visit http://www.scottsprofessional.com.